(AUS) Vacuum Fluorescent Display s 11-digit at Jaycar for $2.95

[austfox]

I spotted these at my local Jaycar this morning for only $2.95 each, so grabbed a few. They are probably cheaper direct from China, but not a bad price for a retail store.

Haven't seen VFDs for sale since the late 90's... now I just have to figure out what I should build to make use of them...

[wilfred]

Does the leaflet recommend a suitable driver chip? Does Jaycar sell it?

[retiredfeline]

Wow, must grab. Which shop was this? Might be a manager special. 

[Brumby]

Here it is: https://www.jaycar.com.au/11-digit-fluoro-display-bargain/p/ZD1880?pos=9&queryId=c99746bdd37680867e0544f1658636d6&sort=relevance&searchText=display

Digits are just 6mm high and 3.5mm wide.

Price breaks:	1-9	$2.95
	10-24	$2.60
	25+	$1.95

[retiredfeline]

Ah, should have known they would abbreviate fluorescent to fluoro.

[beanflying]

OT News for the Melbourne mob too Rockby is relocating to Rowville from Clayton

VFD driver IC's worth checking the datasheets btw https://www.rockby.com.au/CatresultsSql_12.cfm?Searchkey=display+driver&stock_no=22511

[johnboxall]

Does the leaflet recommend a suitable driver chip? Does Jaycar sell it?

ZD1882

UDN6118A

https://www.jaycar.com.au/udn6118a-driver-to-suit-fluro-display-dip18/p/ZD1882

[retiredfeline]

Looking at the datasheet supplied by Jaycar which is the same as others on the Internet, the VFD is a Futuba 11-ST26A, and that will get you a bit more information, including posts by people who have used it. The Moddate attribute of the PDF is 2006-04-05 so the display is at least that old.

The segment and grid voltages are given as 12V so it's possible to drive them with 4000 CMOS gates, but one poster said it was a bit dim and used 20V.

[austfox]

ZD1882

UDN6118A

https://www.jaycar.com.au/udn6118a-driver-to-suit-fluro-display-dip18/p/ZD1882

It looks like the UDN6118 is 8 x darlington transistors, so I am not sure what the difference between it and the cheaper ULN2003 is?

Thanks to retiredfeline I will have a look at other users to see the best option on how to drive them.

[retiredfeline]

Jaycar I went to didn't have stock, despite what their web site said. Will try other stores next week.

[retiredfeline]

It looks like the UDN6118 is 8 x darlington transistors, so I am not sure what the difference between it and the cheaper ULN2003 is?

No, look at the internal schematic. The darlingons are high side.

[wilfred]

I notice Jaycar have a sale on and solder is reduced.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/0-71mm-duratech-solder-1kg/p/NS3002?pos=4&queryId=88168642201ecf1d18b7a089bb868ed3
https://www.jaycar.com.au/1mm-duratech-solder-1kg/p/NS3015

The Jaycar website says they are discontinued and the 1kg 0.71mm roll is 500g, 1000g pictured. I bought a roll and it is 1000g. The website points to the replacement stock which is 500g for a dollar more. 200g rolls are $25.

[Someone]

The Jaycar website says they are discontinued and the 1kg 0.71mm roll is 500g, 1000g pictured. I bought a roll and it is 1000g. The website points to the replacement stock which is 500g for a dollar more. 200g rolls are $25.

Shop around, you can get brand name eutectic rosin core (say Multicore 362) for less.

[5U4GB]

Here it is: https://www.jaycar.com.au/11-digit-fluoro-display-bargain/p/ZD1880?pos=9&queryId=c99746bdd37680867e0544f1658636d6&sort=relevance&searchText=display

Also available in Noo Zild for an equivalent price, so it seems to be company-wide.

The display also features an apostrophe in the top right hand corner of the digits, and a semicolon ; in the bottom in all 11 digits.

I don't know of any country that uses a semicolon as a digits separator so I'm guessing it's a switchable comma vs. period rather than a semicolon.  The cut-off-halfway data sheet mentions a "lower comma" and "decimal point" but no "upper comma", does someone who's got one want to try lighting it up to see which is which?

[wilfred]

The Jaycar website says they are discontinued and the 1kg 0.71mm roll is 500g, 1000g pictured. I bought a roll and it is 1000g. The website points to the replacement stock which is 500g for a dollar more. 200g rolls are $25.

Shop around, you can get brand name eutectic rosin core (say Multicore 362) for less.

Well how about a link. Even in Melbourne I don't know of many places that sell solder. I doubt I'll need solder for quite a while now. But I'd still like to know how much effort I needed to go to, to get a better value.

I expected to get a response advising of better value. I just leave it to others to make their own choice.

[nctnico]

I spotted these at my local Jaycar this morning for only $2.95 each, so grabbed a few. They are probably cheaper direct from China, but not a bad price for a retail store.

Haven't seen VFDs for sale since the late 90's... now I just have to figure out what I should build to make use of them...

I bought a couple of such displays in the 90's... Still don't know what to do with them and I likely threw them out a while ago. My advice: only buy parts you need for a current project otherwise you end up with a hoard of unused parts like me.

[OZ1LQB]

nctnico..
is that a bad thing ;-)

[Brumby]

(It depends who's asking  )

[beanflying]

(It depends who's asking  )

SHMBO to Brumby what did you buy 'this time'  

When you reach the point of not wanting to or being able play with fun toys then is life worth living? Lots to be learned playing with new or offbeat stuff and for very few $ in this case.

[Brumby]

NERF Super Soaker XP100 Water Blaster (at the request of the wife).

We have some sulphur crested cockatoos taking an unhealthy interest in our house and need some discouragement.

As for other purchases, I've had to wind back on that until I can make room to:
 1. Organise garage and other areas so that I can:
 2. Store what I have in an accessible manner
and
 3. Work on/utilise existing acquisitions.

Current plans and budget are directed towards storage products.  *sigh*

[nctnico]

(It depends who's asking  )

SHMBO to Brumby what did you buy 'this time'  

When you reach the point of not wanting to or being able play with fun toys then is life worth living? Lots to be learned playing with new or offbeat stuff and for very few $ in this case.

Everybody is bound to the amount of time they are alive. So only buy the toys you have time for to play with... I'm quite sure that when I die at high age I still have a TODO list long enough to last another lifetime and probably even longer.

[retiredfeline]

So only buy the toys you have time for to play with...

Yes but there no way of knowing how much time that is.